''Athena, hey...Athena, you okay? you zoned out,'' Leo places a hand on my bare shoulder.

''What...uh...sorry, yeah...you were saying?''

He arches his brow at me, confirming If I'm okay. I give him a subtle nod before he continues, ''Yeah, I was just saying that Amunet is our number one client, followed by you.''

''Oh really...I thought Nightshade was your top client.''

''Well sweetheart it was, but luckily for us you decided to take a year long break and then terminated your agreement with them. If it were up to me, you'd be on the bottom of the list,'' Amunet says in her thick accent.

How dare this vampire bitch! I glare at her but she seems unfazed and just smirks. ''Well we are on our way to the top and mark my words, I will bring you down,'' I tell her in my most professional voice.

''I'm already at the top sweetheart, good luck taking that away from me because you will fail. Mark.my.words.''

I'm left speechless at this and the both of us continue glaring at each other until Leo clears his throat. ''Now now ladies, as much as I love a cat fight, now is not the time for one....''

I break my glare off with Amunet and grab Leo's hand. ''We need to talk!'' I spy a narrow space in the back corner of the hall and squeeze the both of us in there.

''Once again Athena, if you wanted me all to yourself, you could have just said it,'' he says, a smirk playing on his lips.

I slap my hand across his face, shutting him up. "sshhh,'' I whisper and point to my ears. ''she can hear us,'' I mouth to him. 

''Okay,'' he mouths back and I realize how dangerously close we are to kissing.

''OMG!! I knew it! I knew there was something going on here,'' I hear Nancy's shrill voice squealing in delight.

 I close my eyes and bang my head lightly on the wall then turn to look at her. Could this get any worse?

''Athena? Leo? '' another voice says from my left. 

"Seriously!!'' I shout, looking up at the sky.

''What's going on here?'' Scott appears in our line of view and I see his eyes widening in shock.

''Scott, it is not what you think...'' I start. ''That's what they all say,'' Nancy whispers making me  glare at her in anger

''Look you guys, there has been a misunderstanding,'' Leo says and tries to come out of the cramped space but his tie gets stuck in my waist belt and I'm pulled along with him.

''Ssssorry...I'm sorry...'' I stutter and hurriedly untangle the tie. ''Look you guys.... we just wanted to talk about something so we had to come this way because of the......'' I start but Scott cuts me off.

''Ohhhh come on precious.... you are both young, neither of us are judging you, right?'' he looks at Nancy, ''Yeah...we ain't judging,'' she shrugs her shoulders and knowingly winks at me.

''Please...please.... carry on...don't stop on our account,'' Scott says as him and Nancy walk away leaving the both of us standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

''Ahemmmm....so...what is it you wanted to tell me?'' Leo asks and I turn to look at him wide eyed.

''Not here, not right now. Too many prying eyes and ears,'' I reply and we walk away to mingle with others.

Through the rest of the night I avoided Leo like a plague but I kept my eyes trained on Amunet. There is something off about that woman. I know we are practically designed to hate each other but it's not just that. There is something else that can't put my finger on.

I caught her eye several times at the party. Her intense glares sending chills down my spine and not in the good way. ''What did I ever do to that woman?'' I ask Nancy who is beside me sipping wine.

''I know right, if looks could kill, you'd be a pile of ash by now. I wonder who else you've pissed off in the past year.''

''Oh god no.... that thought hadn't even crossed my mind, '' I whine and down my wine in a single sip.

''Yeah because the only thing that crosses your mind is Mr. Grey,'' she smirks and nudges me.

''Seriously...Nancy...gosh, you have a one track mind. I'm done here,'' I say and walk over  to Scott.

After bidding my goodbyes to him, I rush out of the hall. I'm about to sit in my car when a scent hits me. '' Seriously you followed me out here?''

''Leaving without saying goodbye?'' He comes out of the shadows, his deep blue eyes shining in the moonlight.

''Bye....'' I say and get inside the car but Leo has other plans as he walks to the passenger side and slips in.

''What is the meaning of this? Get out of my car!'' I yell.

''Athena, calm down. I'm not a serial killer.''

I sigh and turn to look at him, ''what do you want?''

''The question is, what do you want? If I'm not wrong you're the one who dragged me to that corner,'' he replies.

''Right. Ummm yeah I wanted to talk about something but it's still not safe here. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow and talk about it. I'm really tired today.''

''As much as I would love to meet you tomorrow, I can't. I'm flying to New York at first light and won't be in until next week.''

''Ohhh you're going back?''

''I have a pack to look after, I'm an alpha too remember?'' he chuckles.

''Yeah, of course. Your pack,'' I reply sheepishly.

''So I'll see you next week then,'' he says and steps out. ''Yeah, see you.''

The weekend goes by fast and now I'm sitting in my office on a Monday afternoon, staring at my phone, contemplating on whether I should call Ethan or not. I mean if this Amunet person is part of my past, who else can I ask but Ethan.

''You know if you miss him so much, you should just call him,'' Nancy walks into my office with a stack of papers in her hand.

''Huh...what, miss who?'' I ask her, tearing my gaze away from the phone. ''Duh...Leo. Who else?''

''What...no...I don't miss him,'' I reply and she rolls her eyes at me, ''uhh...does it look like I have stupid written all over my forehead?''

''Nancy.... not right now please, give me those. I have work to do.'' I take the papers from her hand and shoo her out of my cabin.

It's evening now and I'm about to leave for the day when someone comes running to me. ''Ms. Athena...come quickly, you need to see this!''

I follow the guy and see everyone gathered in the main area staring at the TV. ''What is going on?'' I ask as I come to a stop.

The news channel is on and someone increases the volume. ''Just in, Kovar Inc. has announced a sale. All clothes and accessories are on discount, effective immediately. This is a huge step taken by the fashion company and it sure will be a blow to its competitors. As you can see the stores are already flooded with people. We wonder how other fashion companies will take to this,'' the reporter announces.

''This is unbelievable,'' I grit my teeth in anger. I need to do something about this. ''Switch this off, everyone leave, office hours are over,'' I announce and start walking to the elevator.

''Athena...Athena...wait. What are we going to do about this? Should we call Leo?'' Nancy asks as she follows me in the elevator.

''Why should we call Leo? Is this his company? gosh I need to think of something fast.''

''Look he is our manufacturing agent, maybe he can help.''

''He is also Kovar's manufacturing agent Nancy. I don't know why you want me to call him!''

''Well I thought that he is man, so....''

''Ohhhh stop right there missy! You thought that since he is man he can come up with an idea on how to save MY business. You don't think I'm capable of making decisions for MY company until a man is involved? Seriously! I thought we are moving forward from that kind of mentality. What the hell happened to equality?''

''Athena...I...'' she starts but I halt her.

''Don't. just don't,'' and with that I walk out of the building and get into my car.

***

Things are heating up between Leo and Athena.

Oh and how can we forget Amunet!

Let me know you thoughts in the comment section below.

-Jessica.S